“He’s not.” I sniff the meat again. “Seriously, what is this thing?”
“Goblin meat,” Ardruna says.
I shudder in revulsion. “It can’t be.”
“You’re right,” she says. “It’s wildcat. Satisfied?”
“Why are you teasing me like this?”
Ardruna’s long teeth flash. “Have you considered we may be kind of angry with you?”
“Why would you be?”
“Because you ignored our advice and put us in danger,” she says. “Because you believe a character’s lies. Don’t you think we have some experience in this matter? We are, after all, the guardians of these books.”
“What if the books are all miserable and that’s why they keep attacking you?”
“So let me get this straight.” Roane rubs his brow. “You found this book on the street, brought it here, made friends with it and now you’ve solved the mystery of magical books and… I’m not needed anymore? No need to bind and chain such books or worry about monsters spilling out of their pages? We just need to… talk to them?”
“I didn’t say that,” I mutter, wincing.
“And yet you’re convinced that this book won’t hurt you. Or anyone else.”
“That’s right.”
“Despite the serpent it sent after me.”
I wince again. “What would you have done in his place? You were about to chain him.”
“Him. You still think of this book as a person?” Roane demands.
“Heisa person. Fictional or not.”
Roane starts pacing up and down, his long braid flying behind him. “This is bullshit.”
“I thought you would be able to drive that serpent back into the book easily.”
“I told you. None of this is easy,” he grunts, still pacing.
“Sometimes you can’t send the monsters back into the pages. Ardruna said so.”
“Ardruna talks too much for her own good.”
The lioness huffs. Then proceeds to lick her leg, ignoring us.
“Wait…” I say. “Is this how the monsters filled this world? Every time you bind a book, a monster escapes?”
“No.” He stops. “That’s not the only occasion monsters can escape.”
“What other occasions are there? Is it a long story? As it happens, I have time on my hands.” I fold my arms over my chest. “What about those goblins? Did they escape from books? There were so many.”
“Apart from reproducing like rabbits, not all goblins are from the same book,” Roane says. “Some are from a collection of books, or a series?—”
“Are you joking?”
He shoots me an annoyed look. “No. Why would I be?”
“Really? Because this is a mess.”
